Bulldogs dominate season opener 81-54 at Hanover in Boys Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
11-28-2010

CROWN POINT (81) Tommy Bardeson 3-0-7, Jared Smoot 5-1-11, Evan Langbehn 3-4-10, Sean Crary 4-1-9, Michael Albrecht 6-8-22, Billy Brown 4-0-8, Zac Bostian 2-9-14, Braxton Rice 0-0-0, Brett Haskell 0-0-0, Ronnie Plesac 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27 (23-30) 77.

HANOVER CENTRAL (54) Derek De St. Jean 4-0-8, Cam Brady 2-3-7, Nick Bollenbacher 4-10-18, Jeremy Pedersoli 2-2-7, Zach Rush 4-0-11, Max Johnson 1-0-2, Dan Kubiak 0-1-1, Jake Ortiz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (16-21) 54.

FREE THROWS: CP (23-30, 70%) Albrecht 8-11, Bostian 9-10, Langbehn 4-5, Crary 1-2, Smoot 1-2. HANOVER (16-21, 76.1%) , Brady 3-3, Pedersoli 2-2, Bollenbacher 10-13, Johnson 0-1, Kubiak 1-2.

REBOUNDS: CP (30) Smoot 10, Langbehn 7, Brown 5, Bardeson 3, Crary 2, Rice 2, Albrecht; HANOVER (15) De St. Jean 6, Brady 3, Bollenbacher, Pedersoli, Johnson 3, Kubiak.

ASSISTS: CP (14) Albrecht 11, Bardeson 2, Langbehn; HANOVER (6) Bollenbacher 5, Pedersoli.

FOULED OUT: CP (none); HANOVER (1) Cam Brady (4th Q) 1:10 left.

3-GOALS: CP (3) Michael Albrecht 2, Tommy Bardeson, Zac Bostian; HANOVER (4) Zach Rush 3, Jeremy Pedersoli.

CEDAR LAKE, IN (11-27-2010)  Usually, the basketball season opener and the home opener are nights when everybody shows up and smiles and you get a good line on how that team's going to do this season. In Crown Point's season opener and Hanover Central's home opener Saturday night in the big, bright Hanover gym, the Bulldogs broke open a close game in the third quarter and ran away for an 81-54 victory. The problem for analysis purposes is: Everybody wasn't there.

Crown Point wasn't great, but they played without injured starting guard Dejan Stefanovic, who will be out until mid-December. Hanover was without starting guard Luis Norman and last year's leading scorer Zach Rush had his balky knee give out on him after he scored 11 first quarter points.

"I hated to see that," said Crown Point coach Clint Swan, who spoke briefly with HC coach Rod Bollenbacher on the floor afterwards. "He just told me it was okay if I wrote a little note to Zach. My heart was breaking when I saw him down on the floor like that. I just wanted to convey that to him."

"I have a lot of respect for him. To me, he's what Northwest Indiana basketball is all about. I hope and pray he's okay."

Without Rush, a 5-foot-10 senior guard who helped boost his side to a 20-15 first quarter lead, Hanover was eventually overwhelmed by the size and depth of CP, the much bigger school next door.

CP got 22 points and 11 assists from top scorer Michael (Spike) Albrecht and used a 26-10 third quarter to decide this game. But they have time to get ready for Valparaiso, Merrillville and the other showdown games on their schedule. The Bulldogs probably started slowly because Rush didn't and because it was their first game.

"We needed to move the ball and wait for them to break down defensively," said Swan. "We would take a quick shot. We were impatient. We'd get beat off the dribble and we'd try to block a shot."

"Once we found patience, we were able to take control and that's where the 26-10 third quarter came from."

"They were pretty amped up playing at home. It was their third game. Our first game. It took us a awhile to find our sea legs."

Hanover tried the same strategy against Albrecht and CP that they used successfully three days earlier against high-scoring Austin Richie and Lowell. Jeremy Pedersoli, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, tried to 'face guard' him, following him all over the floor, bumping and tugging on his short. The move was semi-successful against Richie, as Hanover won the game (despite Richie's 31 points) 74-65.

The strategy did not work against Albrecht.

"I was very proud of Spike," said Swan. "A lot of guys would have handled that different. He found a way to get everybody else involved. He ended up with 22 points and 11 assists. Not too often a guy gets chased around like that and he gets 11 assists. I thought he kept his composure and didn't push the issue. I don't remember any rushed shots by him."

Hanover's Nick Bollenbacher scored a season-high 18 and 6-foot-5 center Derek De St. Jean held his own against 6-foot-11 CP senior Jared Smoot, but Hanover doesn't have enough players right now.

Without Rush and starter Luis Norman, HC only has one senior and only four varsity players who are juniors. Sophomore Pedersoli, Jake Ortiz and Dan Kubiak are trying, but they are not physically ready to play against 18-year-old senior players.

"For the most part, we had two sophomores, two juniors and a senior," said Rod Bollenbacher. "We just got to get some of the kids developed. We have a good sophomore group. Luis will be back and it may be a few weeks for Zach, depending on what the doctor says.
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"Clint did a good job getting his guys ready. They pushed the ball up and our sophomores are not strong enough to play with those seniors they have. We panicked with the ball. We're just going to have to rely on Nick and (Derek) until the other players develop. What else can we do?"

DOG-CAT NOTES: The Hanover-Crown Point game was played in front of a crowd of about 1200 fans, including Crown Point mayor Dave Uran, who is a former player and head varsity basketball coach at Hanover.

Sophomore Tommy Bardeson, a 6-foot-4 guard, made his first career start for CP, scoring seven points and handing out two assists.

"I thought he played well," said Swan. "It's going to take him a little time to get acclimated to full time varsity life, but when he does, he's going to be a very good player."

CP sophomore Braxton Rice, a 6-foot-5 varsity football wide receiver prospect, grabbed two rebounds in his varsity debut in the fourth quarter. Ronnie Plesac, a 6-foot-4 forward, made his varsity debut in the final three minutes. Brothers Ronnie and Zach Plesac, better known as CPHS as baseball players, both played extensively in the JV game.

Senior Jared Smoot drew his third personal foul with 5:47 left in the second quarter and sat out the remainder of the half.

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Revised: November 28, 2010 .